Tuesday, February 11, 2025 - The International Olympic Committee are being sued for letting gender-row boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting compete in Paris 2024.
Algerian Khelif and Yu-ting of Taiwan both won gold medals at
last summer’s Olympics despite being disqualified from the 2023 World
Championships for failing gender eligibility tests.
Now the International Boxing Association – the Russian-led body that
administered those disputed 2023 tests, has launched legal action against the
IOC.
Citing President Trump's recent executive order
banning transgender women from female sports in the USA, the IBA said
they were filing complaints to the attorney generals of Switzerland, France and
the USA ‘regarding the IOC’s actions that facilitated the participation of
these ineligible athletes’.
The IBA claims that, according to Swiss law, ‘any action or inaction
that poses a safety risk to competition participants warrants investigation and
may serve as grounds for criminal prosecution’.
The organisation have also offered to financially support any Paris 2024
boxers who wish to pursue legal action.
‘IBA will provide free-of-charge comprehensive legal support to our
boxers in these lawsuits, as this is a clear violation of human rights, an
outrage towards the female boxers, and simply a crime that should be punished
accordingly.
‘In my personal opinion, (IOC president) Thomas Bach should take full
responsibility for this, as he was in charge when it happened, and he needs to
compensate the damages caused, if the court or any other instance rules this.’
The IOC stripped the IBA of their status as the sport’s world governing
body in 2023 citing concerns over ethics and finances.
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